* Comes with a polarizing filter and case. If you need a continuum filter, you will need to order it separately.

Baader Herschel Safety Wedge Solar Prism - Version "P"

Baader Herschel Wedge PhotosThe New Baader Planetarium 2" Herschel Safety Wedge Solar Prism offers the finest white-light solar views obtainable. The Herschel wedge prism provides safe full-aperture solar views without any image degradation. Views are noticeably superior in resolution and contrast to even the very finest and most expensive glass objective solar filters and films. The amount of Sunspot detail and surface granulation will surprise even the most experienced solar observer. Penumbra resolve into a staggering range of contrasts and fine wispy details. The solar disc is set against a jet-black sky, like observing the full moon at night! With our Herschel Wedge Prism, it becomes obvious that the lack of detail and contrast experienced with all other white-light filters was not so much due to the atmospheric seeing as you had thought. A further benefit is the true unfiltered nature of the spectrum passed by the filter. Unlike objective solar filters, the Baader Herschel Wedge does not selectively filter any of the visual wavelengths. This provides a true white-light view, and permits the use of additional eyepiece filters to selectively study any bands desired, without the compounding effects of a pre-filter.

The Baader Safety Herschel Wedge is the finest solar wedge ever produced for amateur use. It is the culmination of Baader's many years of experience in the design and production of Herschel Wedges. Utilizing a precision 2" genuine Zeiss ultra-smooth wedge prism and proprietary Baader optical design for stray light elimination, the Baader Safety Herschel Wedge maximizes image contrast and sharpness. While other herschel wedges use a low-quality Chinese or other generic glass wedge prism, the large first-surface Zeiss produced prism has high surface quality and smoothness over its entire surface which will not break down at magnifications over 100x, permitting full-disc photography and imaging with no resolution or contrast loss across the full field.

Baader Herschel Safety Wedge Solar PrismAs supplied, a special precision polished and coated Baader ND=3.0 filter is permanently pre-installed within the wedge housing (it MUST be present for any and all visual observation). This critical safety feature ensures that the ND filter will always be present, with no chance of accidentally viewing the unfiltered light as with some other herschel wedges.

The genuine Baader ND filters have been designed and produced specifically for Herschel usage, and are the only ND filters ever to be produced with both surfaces fine-optically polished and anti-reflection multicoated. These additional steps provide the highest image quality across the entire field, preventing any image breakdown and scattered light which are inherent in standard ND filters.

The modular design of the Baader Herschel Wedge incorporates a removable 2" nosepiece and Deluxe 2" Clamping eyepiece holder (with integral brass clamp ring and dual clamp screws). The threaded machined aluminum body permits attachment of a full range of Baader accessories, as well as for close-coupling of cameras and Baader binoviewers.

Baader Herschel Safety Wedge Solar Prism Features...

* The latest version incorporates an innovative Light Trap developed by Baader Planetarium. This development takes the Herschel Wedge into the 21st Century, by rendering the output energy cool and diffused! In all other herschel designs, the waste energy is simply deflected out of the rear face of the prism by an angled mirror. Though quite safe with careful use, the user still had to be aware not to place any object (or body part..) into this output beam (and to prevent any casual onlooker from carelessly staring up into the beam). Thanks to Baader Planetarium, this concern has now been completely removed. In place of the typical output mirror is a coated multi-layered perforated steel screen. The bright light and heat energy are harmlessly diffused. Even after prolonged observations through large refractors, the light trap remains cool. You can even place a hand below the output and no heat can be felt (also, no tempting or hazardous bright output for careless eyes to see).

* Baader now offers two versions of the Herschel Wedge: The lower priced Version-V (visual, sold separately) comes with the pre-installed ND=3.0/1:1000 (required for safe viewing), and a 2" Polarizing Filter. The Version-P (photographic, included in this package) starts with the Version-V and adds 3 additional Baader ND filters (ND1.8/1:64, ND0.9/1:8, ND0.6/1:4 ). The additional ND filters are handy for further dimming the image for white light viewing, or attaching to eyepieces or a T2-15 Reducer, and are particularly useful for imaging.

* All of the fine-optically polished genuine Baader ND filters now incorporate special anti-reflection multi-coatings to further eliminate light scatter and ghosting for maximum image contrast. The result is image quality unachievable with any other ND filter.

Please Note: The Herschel Wedge is only recommended for use with refracting telescopes, NOT Schmidt-Cassegrain, Maksutov, or any other reflecting telescopes. This is a professional-quality white light (not H-Alpha) solar filtration system, whose basic design concept has existed for almost as long as the telescope itself. Like glass or mylar film objective solar filters, it is completely safe if used properly and common sense precautions are always observed.

Similar in length to any 2" diagonal, the Baader Herschel Wedge requires more back-focus than a 1.25" accessory. The path length of the Herschel is 128mm, as measured from it's front face to the top of the 2" eyepiece holder. Since most 2" eyepieces have their field stops well below the main eyepiece body, most telescopes will need less than 128mm of back focus to accommodate the Herschel. Most telescopes with 2" focusers will have no problem providing this amount of back-focus (in-travel). However, some telescopes, such as many TeleVue refractors, provide limited back-focus that may require a shorter path length for some eyepieces. For these scopes the path length of the Herschel may be reduced to 108mm for 1.25" eyepieces by the attachment of a T2-27 adapter and T2-08 1.25" Clicklock eyepiece clamp.

Latest Submitted Astrophotos!

I love Algonquin Park, I'''ve been going there since I was a kid. (Located in Northern Ontario, Canada) Here are some shot'''s of I have taken recently. All the planets shot'''s were taken with a ToUcam pro and my LX-200GPS. The lunar shot was taken with my Nikon 995 and that Celestron comet catcher I picked up...

This is actually a snapshot from actual footage I took of the planet Neptune. The image has been brightened so everyone is able to see it better as we all know how far Neptune is from the Sun and how dim it is!
Date: 3 August 2013